Islam for Muslims
- THE FAITH OF MUSLIMS
- GOOD DEEDS IN PERSONAL LIFE
- GOOD DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE
Five Major Sin Packages
Introduction: The Muslims are required to abstain from a variety of sins in order to avoid painful consequences. God only “forbids all shameful deeds and injustice and rebellion” for these sins are “hateful in His eyes” (16:90; 17:38). Most of these sins may be grouped under five main packages, namely: (1) unbelief (2) partnership (3) human rights abuse (4) illegal earning and (5) sex crimes. Now follows a recount in this regard.
(1) Unbelief (‘kufr’): Unbelief ordinarily means lack of belief in or hostility to God and His religious system. The grave nature of this sin can never be overstated as it appears from powerful condemnations by the Quran. The atheists are mentioned like the “worst of beasts” and “much more misguided” than the “heedless” “cattle” (8:55; 7:179). Their actions will be rendered fruitless like “ashes” and “mirage in sandy deserts” particularly if they “die in Unbelief” (14:18; 24:39; 2:217). God will not forgive them “even if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness” and their “life will be (dangerously) narrowed down” (9:80; 20:124). Consequently, their entry into Paradise will be impossible like a “camel’s passing through the eye of the needle” and they will be the eternal “companions of Hellfire” (7:40; 5:10). By means of unbelief you can do no harm to God and instead you only do devastating harm to yourself. Thus atheism only brings total failure to your life in the Afterlife at the latest.
Two Types of Unbelief: (i) Total and (ii) Partial.
(i) Total Unbelief (Atheism): Atheism in the sense of complete unbelief or rejection of God sometimes may result from the absence of any ideas or conceptual darkness about God. As long as these ideas or thoughts remain only passive within the borders of their mind (e.g. harmless agnosticism), the Muslims will be doing better by using peaceful messages or logical arguments against such atheism.
The worse type of unbelief, also known as anti-theism takes the form of hostility toward God or His religious system through violent approach. One classical example was set by the Arab infidels who did everything within power to stop the Prophet from spreading Islam and “barred him from the sacred Mosque” (48:25). This was also an example of combining anti-theism with idolatry (partnership). This type of unbelief deserves appropriate “hard” and “firm” resistance from the Muslims (66:9) which should, however, be proportionate and free from any excesses.
More Examples: Examples of complete unbelief (atheism and anti-theism) include but are not limited to: systematically “lying against God” (4:50), “rejecting” Him (29:52), “striving against (His) Signs” (34:5), disputing His existence (22:8), “imaging an evil opinion” of Him like saying “His hands are tied up (miser)” (48:6; 5:64), using “profanity in His names” (7:180), “misleading (people) from (His) path” (31:6), taking religion playfully or “mocking” with prayer (7:51; 5:58), “rejecting” or “resisting” the Prophet (38:14; 47:32).
Other examples include “hating” (47:9) or dishonoring the Quran by “talking at random (noising)” during recitation (41:26), “mocking” the verses or dismissing them as “tales of the ancients” (45:9; 83:13), “selling” them for miserable price (3:199), trying to find “something crooked” or “talking nonsense” about it (7:45; 23:67), , “disbelieving” or reasoning against the Afterlife (17:10), “whistling and clapping hands” at the Grand Mosque (8:35), destroying mosque or “hindering” prayers therein (47:32), “violently attacking” the Muslims only because of their faith (22:72) and so on.
Munafiq (Hypocrites): Under the above category also fall the hypocrites. They are outwardly Islamic (in words and actions) but viciously anti-Islamic at heart as they are seriously committed to undermining Islam under pretention of Muslims. Wearing double faces, they would like to “please you with (words from) their mouths, while their hearts remain different” (9:8). Compared to clearly recognizable non-Muslim enemies, they are likely to be more dangerous to Islam for they blend with the Muslims as one of their own and are therefore more capable of misguiding them. Consequently, their sins will lead them to “the lowest depths of the (Hell) Fire” as their promised place (4:145).
(ii) Partial Unbelief: While total unbelief or infidelity mostly comes from people outside Islam, partial unbelief (or distorted faith) is often committed by the people within Islam. Harm of Islam may not always be their intention as they sometimes may get involved without knowing or without being sure if their actions amount to a sin.
Examples: Examples of this type among many others are: being disappointed with the Mercy of God, blaming Him for any misfortune (e.g. accident or poverty), denying Him any credit for removal of your misfortune, dismissing any Quranic provisions (e.g. women’s dress code) as outdated, “doubting” any verses (10:94), “concealing any revelations” (2:174), finding fault with what the Prophet did (e.g. polygamy) under God’s command, believing only in your personal might rather than destiny, denying the need for any ‘fard’ provisions, treating any ‘haram’ as lawful and so forth.
(2) Partnership (‘shirk’): Like unbelief (‘kufr’), partnership with God is also one of the ugliest forms of sin. While unbelief largely implies the absence of due belief in God, partnership refers to setting up partners as alternative to God. This is obviously extremely irritating to Him as people “love (these partners) as they should have loved God” (2:165). After serving strong warning against “joining any partners” with Him (4:36), God says He may “pardon at will any other sins but never this sin” (4:116). As a result, all your works will be “fruitless”, you will be “forbidden” from Paradise and the “Fire” will be (your) abode (39:65; 5:72). This notorious sin also has dual identity (i) open and (ii) disguised.
(i) Open partnership is mainly a vicious design against the existence of God in which the misguided people try to evict God from his office and fill that position with His creations or imaginary gods. However, He dismissed the idea of “sharing command with any person whatsoever”, saying “Do not set up rivals with God” (18:26; 2:22). This type of sin may not necessarily be inspired by unbelief or infidelity (43:87). Pharaoh, for example, was “convinced at heart” about the truth about God. But he rejected Him “out of unfairness and arrogance” (27:14) as he warned his people, “If you put forward any god other than me, I will certainly put you in jail” (26:29).
Examples: Examples of open partnership include among others: worship of man-made statues as a physical symbol of God, worship of animals (ex: cow) as beneficial god, worship of natural elements like sun, moon or plants etc. to get their help instead of harm, consider objects like stone, candle etc. as a source of fortune or longevity, offer rituals to imaginary spirits of dead ancestors to attract intended wellbeing, worshipping holy or popular figures alive and/or prostrate at their graves in quest of blessings, inventing son (e.g. Jesus), daughter (e.g. angels), wife or other relatives of God and so on.
(ii) Disguised Partnership: While open partnership is a design against the existence of God, disguised partnership basically means rivaling with His unique virtues. For example, fortunetelling competes with the role of God as the All-Knowing. Likewise, you cannot give exclusive credit to a wealthy donor as a savior of your life from starvation. Because it was really Protector God Who transmitted His kindness to him to help you with food. Disguised partnership sin is so delicate (like an ant moving on the hill) that even some Muslims slip into it without knowing. They are the ones who “do not believe in God without associating (partnership) with Him” (12:106).
More Examples: Examples of this type are: “obeying” Satanic advice without resistance (6:121), inventing a “share” of God in “tilth” and in “cattle” (6:136), “raffling with arrow” to determine luck (5:3), enjoying an event of idol worship, considering your prophet as equivalent of God in respect of wisdom, mercy etc., giving credit to a saint or fortune teller for your good job or cute son, idolizing husband as a culture of respect or wife as a producer of children, ranking someone or something (ex: your dear son or money) as next to God, considering your doctor or a money lender as a savor of your life, regarding something like finger ring, new year good food or a newborn boy as a source of your fortune, solely counting on government power for your safety from riot or mining accident, boasting on your power that you wrongly deem as endless, bowing your head voluntarily before a powerful person, linking something like caws of crows or broken mirrors to misfortune, praying as a show for people and so on.
Caution: While examples of this nature can never be complete and the potential dangers from such sins can never be questioned, you should always guard against thinking, saying or doing something that appears to compete or clash with the absolute domain of God’s attributes such as All-knowing, All-powerful, Merciful etc. or His Existence as the only One deserving to be worshipped.
(3) Human Rights Abuse: Every human being is born with some basic rights (involving life, liberty, property and prestige etc.) granted from God. Causing any sort of harms to any of these belonging to others amounts to serious wrongdoing and no one can violate these rights without incurring God’s displeasure. In fact, your life, freedom, property and prestige are inter-related in an intimate fashion. For example, your life will be meaningless if you cannot live freely due to unjust imprisonment. Likewise, your mind (sense of prestige) will be injured if your property is harmed such as by, like your land is grabbed or your pet is beaten by your neighbor and so on. You are, therefore, warned against depriving people from “the things that are due” (7:85). God also served you a notice that He will not “increase the wealth of people” such as through exploitive “usury” but He will so that by means of “charity donated in His pleasure” (30:39).
Unique Status: The rights abuse has a unique status among all the sins as God does not ordinarily forgive this sin unless and until the victim forgives you. This sin apparently involves two-step approach to forgiveness: (i) gaining pardon from the wronged person and (ii) then asking for God’s forgiveness. However, begging and obtaining pardon particularly from a reluctant victim may not always be an easy job. In this process, as an abuser you might have to swallow your pride even if you might be senior by age and/or higher in social status than your victim.
Of course, if the nature of harm done by you is not that severe and if you repent sincerely, offer compensation (if applicable), and repeatedly beg for pardon from the victim, then probably you have done your part to qualify for divine pardon. Otherwise, you will be subject to loss through a process of sin readjustment, as indicated by the Prophet. For example, if Mr. A abuses Mr. B 3 times, let us assume 3 sins will be added to the account of A for being an oppressor while 3 sins will be subtracted from B for being oppressed. This will put B at a comparative advantage over A by a difference of 6 sins (A=+3 sins & B=-3 sins). This means A with relatively higher (6) amount of sins compared to B is likely to face comparative disadvantage on the Day of Judgment. You should therefore make all possible efforts to stay clear of such ruinous sins.
More Examples: Human rights abuses occur when you anyway hurt the body or mind of others by depriving them from legitimate rights. Some contents of human rights abuse sin package are: ignoring the basic needs of the dependants, mistreating parents, grabbing other’s properties, false blaming on a woman’s chastity, calling a Muslim ‘infidel’, picking up quarrel among people, breaking your promise to meet a man at a place where he waited for you for hours, calling the wife ‘mother’ which is “unfair and false” (58:2) and so on.
Confusing Examples: You also need to distance yourself from confusing examples of rights abuse like unjustly snatching away legally earned property of the rich for giving to the poor like in communism, choosing a lengthy optional prayer by blocking a neighbor’s driveway or ignoring your dignified guest, shortchanging an innocent non-Muslim only because of his faith and the like. Be warned, God holds the fairness standard high for judging among people regardless of their religious affiliation.
Worst Example: Murder: The most notorious example of rights abuse appears to be unjustified killing or murder that deprives the victim of most precious possession (life) along with lifetime potentials of good deeds. You therefore face stern warning against “intentional murdering” of innocent people without any” just causes” like defensive or judicial purpose (4:93; 17:33) The violator of this rule will end up in “Hell to abide therein (forever)” (4:93) and here on earth the cold-blooded murder will meet matching penalty of capital punishment in an Islamic court. By extension, Islam also outlaws abortion (which is not only the murder of the unborn but also the promoter of adultery) unless the safety of mother’s life comes first. Similar prohibition applies to taking your own life (that was created by God and not by yourself) out of frustration or dying with a dead husband as per ‘sati’ custom of traditional Hinduism.
(4) Illegal (‘haram’) Earning: As honest earning is an obligation, its violation through illegal earning is also an absolute prohibition. The Prophet asserted that your body developed by illegal food will burn in Hellfire. Your prayer, he adds on, will not be accepted while you put on clothes bought by illegal income. Moreover, illegal money dampens religious spirit and thereby lowers your natural tendency to do good. All these may destine you to a painful future in the Afterlife at the latest.
As a Mother Sin: Islam takes a tough stand against illegal income as it happens to be the mother of many other sins involving human rights abuse. In fact, this sin acts as an umbrella for sheltering many other major sins involving theft, robbery, coercion, deception, exploitation, bribery, usury, smuggling, shortchanging, underweight sales, forceful occupation of other’s lands (imperialism) and any other means for illegal possession of others’ wealth. That is why, you are not only forbidden from making illegal money, but are also discouraged from coming close to it by rejecting doubtful income. Dishonest means of earning is not justified even for spending for honest purposes like building mosque, donation. Spending illegal income in a legal way, legal money in an illegal way and illegal money for illegal purpose: all these three types face closed doors in Islam. Open for you are only legal means of earning for spending for legal purposes.
(5) Sex Crimes (Adultery etc.): Islam treats you as “transgressors” if you “seek (sexual pleasures of any kind) beyond” legal sex relations as between husband and wife (23:7). These crimes are now discussed under the following two headlines:
(i) Direct Sex Crimes (involving intercourse): These include adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than spouse), fornication
(consensual sex between unmarried people such as through long-term live togetherness or short-term transactional prostitution ), rape (forcible sex), incest (sex with non-marriageable nearest kin), homosexuality (same sex partners: male or female meeting sex pleasures through anal or disgusting varieties of oral sex or use of devices), bestiality (having sex with animals) etc. God condemns such sex perversions as “shameful deeds and an evil, opening the road (to other evils)” and therefore forbids all these “shameful deeds: open or secret” (17:32; 7:33).
Consequences: Islam, for good reasons, staged fierce opposition to sex crimes. “Do not commit fornication (adultery), (nor) force your maid to prostitution when they desire chastity” (25:68: 24:33). Violations meet stiff penalties: death penalty for adultery by a married person and “whipping by 100 lashes” for fornication by an unmarried person (24:2). These are punishable in an Islamic court without any scope for “compassion” (24:2). If somehow the sex offenders personally escape due punishment of the court, then natural variety of God’s punishment (e.g. pandemics like COVID, earthquake, war etc.) may take care of them in response to large scale unhindered commission of this sin. Destruction of Prophet Lot’s homosexual population through “(mighty) blast” “turning (the cities) upside down” due to an earthquake is a frightening reminder (15:73/74).
The severity of punishment for adultery either here on earth or in the Hereafter is likely to depend both on the quality (nature) as well as quantity (frequency) of adultery. To be specific, the punishment for rape or incest is likely to be harsher than ordinary adultery. Likewise, the penalty for adultery may multiply according to the number of times you commit this sin during your long-time co-living with your premarital girlfriend, as an example.
(ii) Indirect Sex Crimes (Sex Promotional): The sex crimes package includes various activities that stimulate sex (for self) or promote sex (for others). These sexual activities not only border you on adultery but also have powers to push you to actual adultery. These are the target of Quranic warning: “Do not come near adultery” (17:32). It is more than important that you not only stay out of adultery but also maintain a safe distance so you do not slip into it. This safe distance can be maintained by avoiding all adultery stimulant practices that give you some sort of sex pleasures (physical or mental) through various sensory experiences like touching, seeing, hearing, feeling, imagining and so on. Another culprit is public display or description of your personal sex (typical in many permissive societies) that has power to incite others. God therefore bans your “practice of wickedness in (open) gathering” (29:29). Now follow some examples of (a) sex stimulation and (b) collaboration.
(a) Sex Stimulation for Self: Examples of this nature include but are not limited to: casting greedy looks at other’s body parts, talking privately to an opposite sex with an unclean mind, making physical contact with other sex such as through hugging, kissing, massaging etc., enjoying porn or other couple’s sex behavior online, dating or having love affairs with another girl, and the like. These activities are not only sinful by themselves for belonging to prohibited “shameful deeds” (16:90) but also for their roles as slippery slope to actual adultery.
(b) Sex Collaboration with Others: In the same token, it is also a bad sin to do something that may help others toward adultery. Examples include: running a sex based business like prostitution, pornography, massage parlor or obscene movie production etc., promoting sexual cultures through Valentine Day, school prom, dance club, night club, cultural shows etc., handing out contraceptives to the unmarried, acting as a pimp or fixer for other’s sex, allowing your dependent women (sister, daughter etc.) freedom with other marriageable adult men and so on. The Muslims not only should keep clean of the above sins, but also act upon preventives like marrying on time, wearing decent clothes, avoiding free inter-gender mixing, practicing prayer, fasting and do other mind-purifying deeds and so on.
Conclusion: Most of the major sins come under above-mentioned 5 sin packages. Outside these packages, there remain very few major sins and they are so few that do not justify forming the 6th package. It therefore appears that all sinful actions tend to belong under 5 major types similar to popularly known 5 Pillars when it comes to good deeds.